In most schools, the cleaners are a forgotten army, quietly getting on with their work outside teaching hours.

But one secondary is so dedicated to developing its staff that everyone has gone through a national vocational qualification induction programme learning about the school, its policies and ethos.

"It was probably the first training and development they'd had since leaving school. For many of them that was such an achievement. It made them feel part of the school," says Betty Renshaw, who for years has been the most senior member of the support staff at Woodchurch High Specialist Engineering College in Wirral.

Renshaw joined the school as a bursar when her children were young. She was in the first cohorts to take the Certificate and Diploma in School Business Management, and was school business manager for 18 years, until recently stepping down to run its new building programme.

And last year she was awarded an MBE for her school work. "I was gobsmacked," she says. "But it sends out a message of how support staff contribute to teaching and learning in a school."

Renshaw's is an extreme example of how school support workers' roles are being transformed. "They've gone from being mummy helpers to paraprofessionals," says Tineke March, training and development manager for Flying Colours, Oxfordshire's training service.

Statutory planning timeRecent government policies have led to major changes in the ways schools operate, with teachers now getting statutory planning and preparation time during working hours, children with a wide range of special needs being supported to learn in mainstream classes, and extended schools providing longer days and a wider range of services. As a result, schools need more teaching and learning support assistants, often in specialist and challenging roles.

"Support staff numbers have increased so much in the last 10 years that I think people are just now catching up," says Sue Tate, programme leader for standards and qualifications at the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA). "We need to think about using support staff in a strategic way, with schools understanding training and development - they need to be as effective as they can be."

The TDA is encouraging schools to take action, but acknowledges many need help. Since taking over school staff training in 2005, it has been sorting out a maze of around 600 sometimes overlapping support staff qualifications, and mapping national occupational standards (NOS) describing each role.

It has launched a dedicated website and published booklets to help heads establish the needs of school and staff and access the right training.

The TDA recommends schools start by auditing their needs and staff skills using the NOS and other website tools, establishing what training is needed. It also stresses the importance of properly inducting new staff.

Major formal routes include national vocational qualifications, support workers in schools (SWIS) and higher-level teaching assistant qualifications, though with around 60 different support roles there are courses for every need, with core and specialist units. By late 2010 all qualifications will be built of separate units, many shared with other courses, with a credit indicating the work involved.

Tate says SWIS and NVQ have similarities: both are based on occupational standards, and are assessed at work. NVQ provides the full range of competencies for a particular role, while SWIS, says Tate, may be more suitable as a "starter qualification" or for people who have several roles.

Underpinning support staff development are the NOS. Tate recommends them for skills auditing, choosing qualifications and also evaluating course content. Schools can use them to organise in-house development, such as coaching.

Demand for training has taken off recently, says March, for reasons including the NOS, job advertisements stipulating qualifications and the upcoming national pay scale. It is also the result of a broader focus in schools. "What we're doing now is not just academic teaching, it's the whole thing," says Vanessa Mitura, head of Walter infant school in Wokingham, Berkshire. "It's about schools recognising that many of our support staff have got valuable skills, and they grow in confidence with training."

Many other heads are equally committed. Louise Adams, head of St Teresa's Catholic primary, also in Wokingham, says: "My concern is to encourage expertise. We think of our support staff as equals, and now we are looking for one of them to join our leadership team. They have a better overview of the implications of decisions, some fantastic ideas and provide some of our best contributions. They really contribute to the standards of the school."